The Great Dismal Swamp is the center of Gates County, North Carolina's fame, known for its bounty of flora and fauna, and tales of runaway slaves. What is overlooked however, is that in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries--before the American Civil War--nearly four hundred free people of color called Gates County and the Great Dismal Swamp home.

Housed in the English National Archives is a letter from Robert Holden, former resident of Virginia and the Albemarle, to Sir George Carteret, chairman of the proprietary board. The letter--from 1679--describes, for the first time, the Albemarle region in detail, including climate, native populations, fauna, and political government.

The history of Hatteras Island has been difficult to tell, mainly due to its small populations, remote and isolated geography, and self-reliant people. However, accounts by John Lawson who traveled the area between 1707 and 1709, record a historically significant Hatteras Ind. Town. Lawson attempted to preserve the pieces of culture he encountered, as well as connect them to the loss of the Colony of Roanoke.